Quick and Easy Father's Day Crafts for Dads and Grandpas

It's nearly Father's Day, and if the men in your life are anything like mine, they already have everything they need. This leaves me searching for new ideas every year. Here are a couple of gifts we have made that the Dads and Grandpas loved:

Battery Garden


One Christmas, we gave my father-in-law a pack of batteries to power a new lantern that was separately wrapped. He opened the batteries first and went on and on about how he loved them and always needed batteries. Even after he opened the lantern, he told us how much he loved the batteries. So, it made me realize that men really do always need batteries, so why not make a cute little garden out of them and give them as a gift? My four-year-old decorated it herself and it was a fun project. I just helped cut holes in the boxes to hold the sticks, and added a little glue at their bases to hold the heavier batteries.

She had fun making it, and the Grandfathers both thought it was really cute. Be sure to tell them that they're new batteries so they'll be able to use them!

Painted T-shirts with Hand Prints and Footprints


Painted T-shirts are are a fun and simple gift, and my daughter always loves getting paint all over her, so be sure to wear old clothes if you make them! All you need is fabric paint (available at most craft stores) and plain T-shirts (they're cheaper at Wal-Mart, Dollar General, or a similar store than they are at craft stores).

Here are a few hand print / footprint designs:

"World's Best Daddy, Hands Down" with hand prints

"Best Granddaddy, Hands Down" with hand prints 

"My Granddaughter Walks All Over Me" with footprints

The best part of painting your own T-shirts is that you can customize them with whatever you call the Dads and Grandfathers in your life: Papa, Papaw, Grandpa, etc. Then, there's the added bonus of just getting messy with paint, so have fun with it!

Does your nose run when you run?

If you're a runner, you're probably familiar with the term, "snot rocket." There are a few good reasons why we get runny noses when we run - most races and training schedules occur in the mornings, when the weather is cooler, and cooler temperatures make runny noses. Most runners try to inhale through their noses, which means dust and pollution can get filtered out of the air and trapped in nasal passages. Those irritants can also cause noses to run - it's just the nose doing its job to keep that other stuff out of your body.

While I may see the logic in my runny runner's nose, I don't particularly enjoy the idea of blowing my nose out into the air. My southern sensibilities aren't exactly keen on some of the other options, either, like blowing my nose into my sleeve or hand. 

So, I constructed a little hidden pocket in my running shirt. It makes a nice little, "snot pocket" in which to blow my nose while I'm running. It's double-lined, and it folds back up on its own, so that the snot is tucked away inside.

What you'll need:

Running shirt

Handkerchief

Needle and thread (or sewing machine)

Scissors

To start, fold the handkerchief in half, then cut the folded hanky in half. 

I cut mine in half to make it less bulky, but this is a personal preference. If you wanted, you could make it full size, or cut it even smaller if the half-size is still too bulky for your tastes. 

Since I cut the finished edge, I hemmed the cut, unfinished edge of the hanky so it wouldn't ravel. 

I just folded a small piece over, stitched it, folded again, and stitched again. I didn't bother measuring or pinning - it really shouldn't matter for this project.

Next, I folded the hanky like a fan or accordian. I positioned the hanky so that it followed the curve of the shirt's neckline and pinned the edges onto the inside of the shirt. 

I sewed the outside edges to the shirt. I then sewed the inside single fold to the shirt following the neckline. 

This stitch should help it fold back into place after you use it.

Now I can blow my nose into a hanky while I'm running, with just one hand and without slowing my pace, and the hanky will just fold back up into my shirt! 

How to Jazz Up a Plain T-shirt

It's really easy to turn a plain t-shirt into something special. I love orange, and an over-sized orange T-shirt recently caught my eye in the Men's section of a local thrift shop. I picked it up for $1.99 and brought it home. It was bulky and had gray layered trim:

The trim was first to go. I cut the edges above the seams, leaving them raw with no more gray. I was interested in a more fitted and contoured look, so I turned the shirt inside out and used pins to fit the shirt to my hips, waist, and underarms. I removed the shirt and sewed new seams up each side, where I'd pinned. I tried on the shirt to make sure the fit was right, then trimmed the seams (down to 1/4" to 1/2" - to remove the bulk). If you don't want to try pinning the shirt while you're wearing it, use a T-shirt that you already have that fits well and has the same silhouette you're after - just turn your new shirt inside out, lay your existing shirt on top, and pin your new shirt to follow the seams of your old shirt.

I didn't want to leave the edges raw, but I also didn't want to go to the trouble of hemming all the edges. So, I decided to do a lettuce edge using a zigzag stitch along the edges. The trick is to set your machine to the widest zigzag, a short stitch, and then stretch the fabric as you sew. Sew this zigzag right on the edge. The more you stretch the fabric, the more ruffle you get along the edge. I personally like a contrasting thread for the lettuce edge, so I just used an off-white thread for my orange shirt.

Finally, I wanted something to do something to make the T-shirt prettier. I had some beautiful fabric that matched the orange shirt and also added a splash of vibrant colors. I sewed a few pieces together, forming a narrow tube scarf. You could also use an existing scarf, a ribbon, or any piece of narrow fabric. I started in the middle back of the shirt and cut two holes in the shirt, roughly an inch or so apart from each other, and a couple of inches down from the edge. I then cut pairs of similar holes every few inches, going around the neckline, each pair a couple of inches down from the edge. My motto is that I avoid measuring whenever possible, and most of the time it works out fine. I like to just use my fingers to do a rough measure to try to evenly space, but if you're more of a perfectionist, you could measure the neckline to ensure your cuts are evenly spaced.

Once I had my pairs of holes cut, I wove the scarf through the holes and gathered it gently to pull in the neckline. Since I'd cut the neckline away, this pulled it back up to avoid the Flashdance off-the-shoulder look (fine for many, just not for me). The T-shirt material shouldn't unravel or tear where it's cut, but if you have a particularly fragile piece of fabric and are worried about fraying, you could finish the cuts with Fray Check prior to adding the scarf.

The scarf can be tied in a knot, bow, or just left hanging, to change up the look a little. If your scarf is washable, it can be left as is for laundry. If not, just remove it prior to washing.

I really like the end result. Here are the pictures!